INTBP 2005 Foundations Conference Contemporary approaches to problem-solving in
biology, as well as principles underlying modern methods of biomedical research
will be integrated with the lecture component of the course through an analysis
of mechanisms underlying biological phenomena.
Students will present papers, critically analyze data and devise
experimental approaches to biomedical problems considered in lecture.

INTBP 2010 Laboratory Research Rotation This lab is designed to introduce the student to
relevant laboratory methods as well as the layout and conceptualization of
experiments. The course will serve to
acquaint the student with the laboratory process, and to facilitate his/her
selection of a lab for dissertation research.
Students are required to register for and complete rotations through
three different laboratories, thereby ensuring broad exposure to method and
practice.

INTBP 2013 D2K: From Data to Knowledge-Biomedical Experimental Design & AnalysisExperimental biologists formulate hypothesis and
models, design experiments, collect data and conduct analysis to draw
conclusions. Deep understanding of biological principles requires D2K-The translation
of DATA INTO KNOWLEDGE that transcends first-order conclusions. This course for
first year PhD Students in the biomedical sciences will examine basic
principles of experimental design, together with measurement and sources of
experimental error. The course will provide a practical ‘hands on’ introduction
to the quantitative tools required for experimental research using cellular,
molecular and systems based methods. Topics will include: goals of experimental
design, making measurements, principles of parametric and non-parametric
statistical inference, use of MS Excel, GraphPad PRISM and R, design of
publication graphics and a brief introduction to big data approaches. Students
will work in small groups to construct capstone projects by making ‘youtube’
style videos to illustrate key principles of experimental design and analysis.

INTBP 2290 Scientific Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of ResearchThe course is an introduction to the basic ethical
issues that arise in the course of conducting scientific research. It is intended for graduate students and
fellows in the biomedical sciences who have completed at least one year of
graduate work. The course will be composed
of informal lecture presentations followed by discussion of issues in small groups.

Lab Research Rotation SupplementCourse supplement to INTBP 2010 for those students initiating their first rotation in summer.

MSMPHL 2310 Principles of Pharmacology
This course consists of a series of lectures and tutorial
sessions that focus on the general principles of pharmacology. Major topics are
principles of pharmacokinetics (including drug absorption, distribution, and
metabolism), pharmacodynamics (quantitation of drug-receptor interactions) and
mechanisms of action of cardiovascular and autonomic drugs. In addition, this
course will include both animal laboratory and human simulator demonstrations
that illustrate important pharmacological principles discussed in class.

MSMPHL 2350 Research SeminarBeginning
in the second year of the program students will be required to attend the
Departmental Seminar Series. These seminars are held approximately once a week
throughout the fall and spring semesters and include presentations by
nationally and internationally recognized visiting researchers in pharmacology
and related fields. In order to receive credit for the course, students must
attend a minimum of 80% of the seminars.

MSMPHL 2355 Pharmacology Summer SeminarBeginning in the summer of the second year, students will be
required to participate annually in the Departmental Summer Research Seminar
Series. These seminars will be held once a week throughout the summer and will
be focused on the students’ research plans and recent results. This
presentation will be made to an audience with diverse research interests and
should therefore include a brief summary of general background
information. Each student will be
required to present once each summer and attend a minimum of 80% of the summer
seminars in order to receive credit for the course.

MSMPHL 2360 Biology of Signal Transduction This course will explore different types of signaling
pathways activated by receptor-ligand interactions.Topics to be covered include, but are not
limited to:G-protein linked receptors,
adenylate cyclases, small GTPases, kinases and phosphatases, nitric oxide,
phospholipases, steroid hormone signaling, and pharmacological applications of
signaling pathways.

MSMPHL 2370 Drug DiscoveryDrug discovery is an interdisciplinary science that seeks to
identify small molecular and/or biologic probes and to understand at the
molecular level how these probes affect macromolecular processes. This course
will discuss various topics that are relevant to current approaches and
principles in drug discovery including target validation, drug origins,
cell-based screening, high throughput screening, proteomic approaches to drug
discovery, computational biological aspects of drug discovery and
pharmacoinformatics; as well as topics in preclinical drug development and
intellectual property. The course will include case studies intended to aid
Students in a full understanding of the drug discovery process.

MSMPHL 2390 Directed Study This course provides an opportunity for students to carry out
a specific laboratory project in any area of interest in pharmacology.

MSMPHL 3300 PhD Dissertation ResearchAfter advancement
to candidacy for the PhD degree, students enroll in this course to pursue
original experimental laboratory research, the results of which will provide
the substance of their doctoral dissertation.
A minimum of 40 credits of this course are required for the PhD degree
in the school of medicine.

MSMPHL 3310 Cancer Biology and TherapeuticsThis
course presents biochemical and clinical aspects of cancer biology and therapy
and is designed for graduate students training in the basic sciences or
medicine. The lectures cover the biology of normal and neoplastic cells,
mechanisms of neoplastic transformation, chemical and environmental
carcinogenesis, viral oncogensis, breast and prostate cancer, radiotherapy,
tumor immunology chemotherapy and chemoprevention.

MSMPHL 3320 Journal Club Beginning in the second year of the program students will
participate in the Departmental Journal Club. Presentations will be held each
week that the Department hosts a seminar speaker (i.e. 2-3 times/month) during
the Fall and Spring semester. Students entering their fifth year of study may
petition the Program Director to be excused from the Spring Session of the
Journal Club. Sixth year students and beyond are not required to enroll in
Journal Club although their attendance is encouraged. A log-in sheet will be
available at all Journal Club meetings. All students in attendance will
complete an anonymous peer-evaluation sheet that will be provided to the
presenter. Students must inform the Program Director in advance if they are
unable to attend a specific Journal Club. Excusable absences from Journal Club
include individual or family illness or presentation (i.e. poster, platform
talk) at a major scientific conference. Students are allowed two unexcused
absence/semester.

MSMPHL 3330 Genome Instability and Human DiseaseMechanisms that maintain genome stability allowed the origin
of species. DNA damage is omnipresent and DNA repair and DNA damage tolerance
mechanisms are interwoven in systems that control transcription, replication,
cell division, signal transduction, cell death and evolution. More than 40
distinct human diseases are caused by defects in DNA repair, including
syndromes of impaired development, immunodeficiency, cancer predisposition,
neurodegeneration and premature aging.
This course will emphasize the molecular biology and biochemistry of DNA
repair, placing these mechanisms into the context of other cellular processes
as they pertain to health and disease.
Environmental, clinical and endogenous sources of DNA damage will be
discussed. An understanding of the
fundamental role of DNA repair mechanisms in immunology, oncology, neurology,
and aging will be central to all lectures.

The course comprises twenty-nine lectures that
will be taught twice a week. Lectures will be fashioned around selected
manuscripts and the recent text book: “DNA Repair, Mutagenesis, and Other
Responses to DNA Damage (2014) Errol C. Friedberg, Stephen J. Elledge, Alan R.
Lehmann, Tomas Lindahl & Marco Muzi-Falconi. Lecturers will include faculty from the
Universities of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon who are engaged in laboratory
and clinical research at the forefront of the DNA damage and repair fields, as
well as distinguished Professors visiting Pittsburgh from other Institutions

MSMPHL 3335 DNA Repair Journal The course is a journal club on current topics in DNA repair
as it relates to human disease, DNAdamage processing, genome stability,
telomere biology, cancer and aging. Primarily designed for students in the
second year of their graduate program and beyond. Presentations will be held
twice per month during the fall and spring semester. In order to receive credit
for the course students must attend a minimum of 80% of the sessions, present
once per semester, participate in class discussion and complete anonymous
peer-evaluations for each presenter. One week prior to presentation, presenters
will identify a recent publication in the field and distribute it to their
classmates. Presenters must define the
hypothesis of the paper, provide background and significance, describe
experimental methods used, interpret the data, conclude whether the data
support the authors' conclusions and propose future experiments. Grades will be
determined by attendance (10%), class participation (20%) and quality of
presentation (70%).

MSMPHL 3340 Foundations of Successful Career Planning and Development Part 1

The goals of the fall and spring consecutive courses are to
enhance the career development capacity and foster the life-long career
management habits of graduate students and postdocs to maximize their scholarly
training success and facilitate personal career outcomes. The courses will provide foundational
background through experiential learning and small-group discussions while
facilitating peer mentoring. These
approaches support the self-construction of individually relevant
understandings of career development that is consistent with similar
independence in scholarly expertise. The
areas of focus include self-assessments, career exploration, goal setting,
professional development, career planning and management, career adaptability
and additional topics identified by students.
Participation in the subsequent spring course is expected for those
enrolled in the fall prerequisite course.

MSMPHL 3341 Foundations of Successful Career Planning and Development Part 2PREQ: MSMPHL 3340

The goals of the fall and spring consecutive courses are to
enhance the career development capacity and foster the life-long career
management habits of graduate students and postdocs to maximize their scholarly
training success and facilitate personal career outcomes. The courses will provide foundational
background through experiential learning and small-group discussions while
facilitating peer mentoring. These
approaches support the self-construction of individually relevant understandings
of career development that is consistent with similar independence in scholarly
expertise. The areas of focus include
self-assessments, career exploration, goal setting, professional development,
career planning and management, career adaptability and additional topics
identified by students. Participation in
the subsequent spring course is expected for those enrolled in the fall
prerequisite course.

MSMPHL 3360 Molecular PharmacologyThis
course examines molecular mechanisms of drug interactions with an emphasis on
drugs that modulate cell signaling, cellular responses to drugs and drug
discovery. The course will include student participation through presentations
and discussion of relevant contemporary scientific literature. Topics include:
cell cycle checkpoints and anti-cancer drugs, therapeutic control of ion
channels and blood glucose, anti-inflammatory agents and nuclear receptor
signaling and molecular mechanisms of drugs used for the treatment of
cardiovascular diseases.

MSMPHL 3375 Neuropharmacology This
course will broadly review neuropharmacology and neurobiology, study monoamine,
cholinergic and GPCR biology, and explore the blood-brain barrier and its
significance to neuropharmacology. The
course will focus on the molecular mechanisms of drug action for different
classes of compounds including but not limited to; antidepressants,
antipsychotics, anti-epileptics, anesthetics, weight loss, stimulants,
neuroprotective, addiction, pain and migraine drugs. In addition to the formal
lectures the course will emphasize critical reading of the primary literature
through journal-club style discussions and cover the most recent treatment and
therapeutic avenues being developed for a broad range of neurologic and
psychiatric disorders. The course is
ideally suited for Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience graduate students or
any other graduate student with interest in neurological diseases and their
treatments. The course is also
appropriate for senior undergraduates who have completed 4 semesters of
chemistry, 2 semesters of biology, and other relevant upper division course
work (e.g. Cell Biology, Physiology or Biochemistry)